精东AV-based computer science education program receives additional $150K grant
July 18, 2019
Contact: Michael Tullier, APR, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing
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from throughout Alabama with the knowledge and tools to educate more than
2,000 students about computer science principles during the 2019-20 academic year.
A National Science Foundation-funded project based at 精东AV to implement a new high school computer science education curriculum has received an additional $150,000 boost from the Alabama State Department of Education.
Since 2017, Dr. Mohammed Qazi of 精东AV鈥檚 Department of Mathematics has led the $1 million, multi-institutional project, 鈥淓CS4Alabama,鈥� that is training high school teachers to teach a stand-alone course called 鈥淓xploring Computer Science (ECS).鈥�
鈥淓CS4Alabama has been ground-breaking, as it is giving thousands of students, 鈥� largely from groups underrepresented in computing 鈥� with an opportunity to develop a very ubiquitous, yet specialized, skill required of tomorrow鈥檚 workforce,鈥� said Qazi, the NSF grant鈥檚 principal investigator. 鈥淓xpanding the reach of computer science education is especially vital in rural areas of our state, where the subject is drastically under-taught. It鈥檚 imperative that we introduce students as early as possible to computer science principles.鈥�
To date, more than 60 teachers throughout Alabama have benefited from the ECS4Alabama program and implemented the curriculum in their respective schools throughout the state. The additional Department of Education funding will allow 12 additional teachers to participate in the program 鈥� expanding the program鈥檚 reach to 72 high schools.
鈥淛ust a mere two years ago, there were no schools offering this computer science curriculum in Alabama,鈥� Qazi noted. 鈥淲e are now looking at feeding patterns and seeing how many of our ECS students also take the Advanced Placement computer science course.鈥�
72 Alabama high schools, many of which serve
rural areas where the subject of computer
science has been drastically under-taught.
ECS4Alabama leaders recently concluded their third summer institute on 精东AV鈥檚 campus, where one teacher from each participating high school participates in curriculum training. Those trained teachers continue to receive resources and professional development throughout the following school year. Each school year, the ECS4Alabama curriculum reaches more than 2,000 students through these teachers鈥� efforts.
The ECS course is organized around six units: 鈥淗uman Computer Interaction,鈥� 鈥淧roblem Solving,鈥� 鈥淲eb Design,鈥� 鈥淧rogramming,鈥� 鈥淒ata Analysis鈥� and 鈥淩obotics.鈥� The course is a stepping stone to Alabama鈥檚 Advanced-Placement (AP) 鈥淐omputer Science Principles鈥� course.
Ultimately, Qazi expects ECS4Aabama to help remedy the drastic lack of diversity in the computer science-related workforce 鈥� a setting where minorities currently constitute only 13% of the computing workforce.
鈥淭his project targets Alabama high schools whose have largely racially diverse student bodies,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e must diversify this sector 鈥� both in terms of ethnicity and gender 鈥� so that professionals from all backgrounds are able to contribute at all levels of the high-tech sector.鈥�
Other ECS4Alabama partners include A+ College Ready, the Alabama State Department of Education, Auburn University, The Exploring Computer Science Team, the National Science Foundation, and the University of Alabama. For more information on the project, visit .
漏 2019, 精东AV